Introduction

In this latest data driven analysis of Fortnite weapons, we are considering the Shotguns of Chapter 4 Season 4. Our goal is to find the hardest hitting shotgun to be used in high cover and build situations, not just the highest Damage per Round but the weapon that will actually level up your loadout. In this analysis, we will consider: 

1. Kit's Charge Shotgun
2. Infiltrator Pump Shotgun
3. Sharp Tooth Shotgun
4. Maven Auto Shotgun
5. Heisted Accelerant Shotgun
6. Heisted Breacher Shotgun

Below you will find data tables, charts, commentary, and analysis to guide your weapon selection when it comes to Shotguns.

How will we compare these 6 shotguns?

As is customary with the launch of the new season we have a number of capable options with varying levels of damage per round and fire rate. 

However, the similarity in the figures make these weapons a bit difficult to distinguish. In this article we will answer the following key questions to ultimately answer which shotgun hits the hardest. 

1. Which shotgun has the highest body shot and critical hit Damage per Round?
2. What are the shooting mechanics, structural damage, and range capabilities that will help us distinguish the good from the great?
3. How does weapon tier impact our selection?

Collectively these questions will help you select the right shotgun for a variety of scenarios and increase your odds of winning matches. 

Which Shotgun has the highest DpR?

As is customary with all shotguns, we always want to know what the one shot max is. ie. can they stop an opponent with one bullet. In order to answer this question, we have collected the data for critical hit multipliers and body shot scenarios to help us evaluate. Let's consider the critical hit multiplier first:

Due to a variety of caps placed on weapon performance and limited DpR, it is clear that the Breacher, Sharp Tooth, and Charge Shotgun materially surpass their peers in one round damage. When charged the Charge shotgun hits for an incredible 205, although not enough to capture the illusive one shot elimination. Let's consider the more pedestrian body shot metrics to determine if anything changes:

All weapons predictably drop in lethality, however, under strictly body shot conditions the Breacher shotgun and Charge shotgun become far less lethal. performing much more similarly to their damage capped peers. This compression of performance drives us to consider more closely the eccentricities of some of the  weapons that looked initially very promising (which we will do shortly). With this new data cut, we also can see the Sharp Tooth begin to stand out as a particularly hard hitting option. Obviously, with this information alone we can't make a judgement about these weapons, so let's now consider structural damage, shooting mechanics, and range.

Which Shotgun destroys structures?

Popularized with the creation of the Breacher shotgun, structural damage for these weapons becomes a critical input in damage calculations. As has been demonstrated, it can be an effective way to "breach" or destroy cover in a close quarter battle giving you the upper hand and an element of surprise. With new additions this season let's consider if any of them can compare to the dominant Breacher.

As we can see from the visual below the Breacher shotgun is still the undisputed king, challenged only modestly by the charge shotgun and the trailing sharp tooth . The Accelerant, Infiltrator, and Maven all lag behind considerably making them poor structural damage contenders.

How do shooting mechanics factor into our calculations?

As we know via the Thermal DMR,  shooting mechanics can significantly impact the usability of a weapon. Shotguns in this instance are no different. In order to compare the shotguns we will consider the scope and the trigger mechanics to understand which may present problems. In order to help identify weapons with unique scope characteristics we put together the following diagram to identify these cases:  

10 Meter Scope Size:

• The most obvious detractor amongst this weapon set is the Breacher Shotgun which seems to tighten considerably at 10m range, making it precise but highly difficult to use accurately. Because the round spread shrinks materially, players will struggle to record damage unless the cross hairs are well placed.
• On the other end of the spectrum, the Kit Charge and Maven/Accelerant retain a lot of their scope size but again are likely not great ranged weapons because the spread of each round is more likely to be off target. You can imagine recording a lot of partial or fractional damage on your targets assuming the scope exceeds the boundary of the target.
• In the middle are the Sharptooth and Infiltrator which show moderate scope tightening allowing for a well placed critical hit at at least 10 meters without sacrificing too much in terms of accuracy or precision. From a purely scope perspective these two are top performers, we will see later on if these weapons maintain their efficacy at range.

Charge Mechanic: Outside of scope the weapons all perform with similar mechanics, except the Kit Charge Shotgun. This weapon as its name implies is reliant upon the user charging up the weapon before hitting for max damage. This charging action is loud and takes a few seconds to execute, making it only an effective damage method for the first round in an exchange. Because of the charging mechanism releasing the trigger becomes the shooting mechanism, which can be counter intuitive relative to more conventional weapons. The noise, counter intuitive trigger release, and charge time make this a serious detractor for using this weapon competitively. 

How do these shotguns perform at range?

One very important component of shotgun performance is their ability to do damage at various ranges. In Fortnite combat, the farther you can inflict damage from, the less likely you will in turn take damage. A shotgun that can hit for a lot of damage with a single shot from a range of 30m can be a lethal addition to your arsenal relative to a shotgun that can only inflict damage at 10m. The following visual helps us understand how range can impact shotgun performance. 

• The most obvious takeaway from the graphic is that the Kit Charge Shotgun looses effectiveness rapidly at range. While highly lethal at less than 10 meters, it quickly becomes the least effective option amongst all the shotguns. 
• The second clear takeaway from the visual is that the Sharptooth shotgun is the most consistent performer capable of inflicting the second most or most damage at a variety of ranges. It also has the ability to hit at ranges up to 72m which is materially further than any other gun. This isn't a suggestion to use the gun at these ranges but can be the difference between finishing and not finishing a retreating opponent. The extra range can save you a weapon swap and allow you to continue peppering your opponents. 
• The rest of the shotguns are similarly performing with the Infiltrator showing the next best capabilities, but none of the remaining shotguns differentiate themselves. 

Which shotgun is the hardest hitting?

So with all this information, which weapon should we be adding to our loadout. There is no questioning that that the Kit Charge Shotgun hits the hardest under the right conditions (fully charged and within 10m of range). However these conditions are difficult to come by and execute against, making this a fun but not very practical weapon to add to you arsenal. For these reasons we need to rule it out. 

The next gun we can rule out is the Maven/Accelerant it is by far the fastest firing and has the greatest Damage per Second, but can hardly be considered hard hitting relative to the other options. This by no means implies that it is a bad shotgun (the accelerant may in fact be the best) but it is a very different breed than the other shotguns being compared for their hard hitting nature. 

This leaves the Breacher, Sharptooth, and Infiltrator. 

The Breacher (with a critical hit multiplier) is the second hardest hitting shotgun, however, the extremely tight scope, range performance, and third place common damage performance mean that the Sharptooth and Infiltrator present as much more reliably good options. Similar to the charge shotgun, if used under the right conditions it could outperform but these are going to be hard to replicate reliably. Finally, although a standout on structural damage, the gun has been materially nerfed (previous ~700 to 200 structural damage) which in practice means it can no longer reliably rip through cover with one shot. 

Ultimately, our analysis leaves the Sharptooth and Infiltrator as the hardest hitting options to choose between. If we review our figures it is clear that the Sharptooth hits harder at greater range than the Infiltrator pump with and without critical hit multipliers included. We concede that the Infiltrator does fire much faster than the Sharp Tooth, but materially trails the Maven/Accelerant in Damage per Second, making it less hard hitting than the Sharp Tooth and easily bested by the Maven and Accelerant in more run n' gun type play. This makes the Sharptooth the natural choice for the top hard hitting shotgun for your loadout. 

How does weapon tier impact our selection?

To aid in, in-game decision making, we have also ranked all the closest competitors by Damage per Round and tier so competitors can use this list as reference when making trade-off decisions between various weapons: 

Counterintuitively, even the Epic level Sharptooth shotgun hits harder than its closest peers. Making it the difficult but optimal choice to forgo the Mythic charge and the Exotiv Breacher for a lowly Epic Sharptooth. 

Thanks for reading! Please feel free to reach out with feedback or requests on twitter or on Instagram @hioutput_gaming. If you like what you read comment contact us directly!